Paint rollers are well known in the art as a fast and convenient means by which to coat a flat surface with a layer of paint. Unfortunately, such rollers are only capable of spreading a uniform coat of a given paint color across the surface, and cannot be effectively used to create designs or patterns on the surface. In the 1930's custom wall painting techniques, such as rag rolling and sponging become popular as a means to attain a decorative, patterned paint coating on a wall, ceiling or the like. Unfortunately, such techniques generally required a great deal of time and skill to successfully complete, making them unfeasible options for the general public. As a result, those wishing to obtain decorative patterns typically have had to resort to covering their walls with wallpaper. However, wallpaper is also very expensive, and its application requires skills that many people do not possess. Wallpaper is also undesirable because its removal is an arduous process that requires a good deal of time.
In recent years it has once again become popular to use custom wall painting in the decoration of homes. Custom wall painting provides a unique look for a room in a particular house and many times, if the home owner is able, the look achieved is somewhat like wallpaper but is much less expensive than wallpaper. The present techniques are also faster than the application of wallpaper, less materials are required and, therefore, there is less to handle. In addition, when custom painting is used as opposed to wallpaper, there is no need to match rolls of paper from various paint batches nor is there a need for matching seams or a need for excessive amounts of equipment. Two of the more common types of custom wall painting used in home decorating are sponging and rag painting. In many instances a home owner is able to use these two techniques to produce a very professional-looking wall or room. It is has become so popular in fact that sometimes professional painters are hired to apply these techniques to rooms of houses.
Custom wall painting has also become desired for commercial applications in large-scale buildings. The custom wall painting produces a wallpaper effect and is usually cheaper to apply than other wall coverings, such as wallpaper. Even though the current methods for sponge painting and rag rolling a wall or the walls of the room arc much quicker than applying wallpaper, it would be advantageous if there were still quicker methods that could be employed to produce custom wall painting. The current method for sponge painting a wall requires rolling or applying an initial base color to a wall and allowing it to dry. After the wall is dry, a second color is used. A natural sponge is dipped into a second color and then the excess paint absorbed by the sponge is blotted away so that the amount of paint left in the sponge is enough to transfer paint onto the wall yet not enough to produce a solid shape onto the wall. The natural sponge is then used to contact the wall and apply the second color of paint over the base color previously applied. Once the paint within the sponge runs out, the sponge is reinserted into the second color, blotted so the excess paint comes off the sponge and then applied to the wall. This process is repeated until the entire wall or room is painted. Even though this method is faster than applying wallpaper to a room, it still has some problems. First of all, paint is wasted since excessive paint is blotted out of the natural sponge. Secondly, the process is time consuming since a first layer of paint must be applied before the second "sponged" layer of paint is applied to the wall.
Another common home-decorating technique for applying paint is called rag rolling. U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,703 issued to Niven shows a roller having specialized slots therein. The specialized slots receive a rag that is wrapped around the roller and catches or is hooked into the various slots on the roller cover. Paint is applied to the rag and then the roller is used to apply or contact the wall to be painted. Like sponge painting, an initial layer or base layer must be applied to the surface. The initial layer of paint must be allowed to dry before rag rolling the second layer. Rag rolling can also be accomplished by wrapping a rag around a roller, applying paint to the rag and rolling it over a base layer.
Each of these custom wall painting techniques requires the application of a first initial base layer of paint and then one or more additional layers of one or more colors of paint. The process of applying multiple layers of paint to achieve a custom wall paint look is a time-consuming approach as, in many instances, the initial layer of paint must be dry before the next layer can be applied. Alternatively, multiple colors of paint may be applied to a wall simultaneously.
One approach to providing multiple colors of paint is taught in "A Guide to Color & Decorating with Paint," published by Benjamin Moore & Co. of Toronto, Canada. A standard paint tray is provided, and a method for containing multiple colors is described. A piece of cardboard is inserted in the tray while the paint is being poured in, and the cardboard is then removed. However, this approach has several disadvantages. The paint colors may mix due to an uneven resting surface, or from agitation from the roller itself The mixed colors create uneven results on the painted surface. Controlling the cardboard while simultaneously pouring paint is difficult. Further, the cardboard is full of paint when it is removed and creates an additional mess for a painter to deal with. Once the cardboard is removed, the paint tends to mix. Still another disadvantage is that the paint will mix on the roller as it is repeatedly applied to the wall and brought back into the tray. An additional disadvantage is that this method produces a single pattern of a striped wall.
There is a need for new methods of applying paint that are less labor intensive, and which allow for a variety of custom wall-painting effects. There is also a need for an apparatus that can be used by homeowners to apply more than one color simultaneously to the wall. There is still a further need for a roller cover holder that can hold multiple roller covers to keep the colors from mixing on a single roller cover. In addition, there is a need for a process and apparatus that can be used to apply multiple colors to surfaces to be painted such as walls. There is also a need for a painting process which can be adapted for use by commercial painters to produce custom wall finishes quickly and efficiently.